Help Scouts and Scouters affected by superstorm Sandy

People in the northeast still suffer without power and shelter after last week’s devastating storm. The emotional and financial toll of superstorm Sandy grows each day.

What we do know is this: Thousands of Scouts and Scouters are among the millions of people affected, as well as local councils that serve them.

Many of you who weren’t affected have asked how you can help. I’ve got a couple of ideas:

Give to the Boy Scouts of America Disaster Relief Fund. This fund helps rebuild Scouting in those areas of that have been affected by ongoing, weather-related damages, including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires. You can give to the general fund, contribute to a specific local council, or select combination of both. The funds will go toward helping councils and their members rebuild.

Give to the Red Cross. You’ve no doubt heard this plea on TV and elsewhere, but a donation to the Red Cross goes a long way in crises like this. Whenever Scouting gets involved in and supports relief efforts, the organization typically does so in conjunction with the Red Cross or Salvation Army.

Willing to Help? Need Help?

If you have a Scout unit that’s willing to offer its services, please post below. Alternatively, if you’re a Scout unit in need, please share details below.

Together we’ll get through this and come out stronger on the other side.

Here is the Facebook group (“Parents of Boy Scouts”) post:
The community where my Pack and Troop meet currently is destroyed..the people lost everything … If you have any uniforms that your Scouts outgrew, families you know that are no longer in the program but still have handbooks/uniforms, etc please collect them.Items may be sent to: NYS Assemblyman Mike Miller, Attn: Scouting, 83-91 Woodhaven Blvd, Woodhaven, NY 11421.

Hatboro Troop #3 in Montgomery County PA is looking for a storm related service project this weekend, since the camp we were going to go to is now closed due to storm damage. Any suggestions? skateremt@aol.com

Here’s another group that was just created–SOS:
SOS is organizing two Scouting Organizing Service locations this Saturday, November 10, 2012 at 9:30 AM. Leaders and Scouts should arrive at either the American Legion Hall on Cross Bay Blvd. in Broad Channel or on the left side of St. Thomas Moore R.C. Church in Breezy Point. Scouts should have a permission slip, and everyone should have work gloves, dust mask and eye protection. Please wear something that is Scouting related to identify that you are a Boy Scout for security purposes. For information please contact Bob Ashman at (3475123771) for the Broad Channel location or Tom Curry (6464749101) for the Breezy Point location. You will be asking people if they need help removing their furniture and flood destroyed parts of their houses.

Our Trip this weekend is also cancled do to stome damage in NJ and we do not have gas to travel out of the City, so we are gatting all the camping eqipment together and are having a cook off Saturday on Staten Island to feed volonteers and victoms. We have also been doing cealning product drives the last week, especaily Bleach and Trash Bags that is really needed here.

Having personally worked New Jersey after 9/11, Florida hurricaned in 2004 and Mississippi after Katrina the forgotten relief group is Salvation Army. They were there with Red Cross and often were the only one in an area.

Hi, My district in SC wants to put together a food/supplies drive to help someone, somewhere. We’d like to adopt an area with Scouting units. Sorry to be vague, but we have hearts to help, we just need a focus.

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Bryan on Scouting is the official blog of Scouting magazine, a Boy Scouts of America publication. Scouting magazine is published five times a year and is received by 1 million registered adult volunteers.